


millennia have needed music to survive

by SorrowSeye



Category: Marvel, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Brooklyn doesn't really care that there's six spider-people, Family, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Miles basically just helps a bunch of old people, Music, One Shot, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:35:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25140109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SorrowSeye/pseuds/SorrowSeye
Summary: The Spider-Gang tries to write a themesong.
Relationships: Miles Morales & Peni Parker & Peter B. Parker & Peter Benjamin Parker & Peter Porker & Gwen Stacy, Miles Morales & Peter B. Parker & Gwen Stacy
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	millennia have needed music to survive

Miles' universe already knows there's six Spider-Men (one of which is a woman, the next a mech and a girl, and the last of which appears to be a pig). They'd already had two, so what's five more? The residents of Brooklyn are well aware of the fact that their home-town Spider isn't an adult, and most people agree that babysitters- even if they only visit once in a while- are a good thing in the long run.

So nobody bats an eye when these Spiders help around the city.

Right now, there's three taking down a group of thugs trying to rob a private store owner, and another three spotted scattered around the city. We land on the first three; the detective, the mech, and the pig.

_"What's new-"_

"We're not incorporating that. Pretty sure it's copyrighted." Gwen shoots Ham's suggestion down through the intercoms given to them by Peni, as Ham clocks one of the thugs with a mallet. He continues to hum despite Gwen's protests.

"Party-pooper." Ham sneers, jumping back to let Noir web up the criminal with his already-tied friend. 

"We need something high energy!" Peni cuts in, swinging another crook around so that Ham's path is clearer, "like a show's opening, something that gets people excited!"

Noir thwips the fourth crook from behind Peni before they get a chance to hit her while she's distracted by her own rapture with the subject.

"See, Peni gets it." Gwen says.

"I get it too!" Miles sounds indignant.

"Pardon?" an old lady is picked up through Miles' mic, and he quickly apologizes to her and dismisses the comment. Gwen, Peni, Ham, and Peter all laugh, much to the newest Spider's dismay.

"Okay Miles, you get it too," Gwen says between a laugh, "that's why I'm thinking rock."

"You always think rock. You've got a one-track mind." Ham grunts, jumping and lingering in the air longer than possible for anyone who obeys the laws of physics (which he does not), as Peni skids underneath him to pull back one of the escaping criminals. A loud crash sounds through Peter's side, then the sound of drunken yelling, then the sound of car doors slamming.

"I'm with Ham on this one," Peter says after asking someone to dial 911, "I'm thinking something more classic. Like- maybe- _Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a Spider-Can-_ "

 _"Boring!"_ all three Spider-Kids exclaim simultaneously.

"While I think this is all well and dandy," Noir webs the once-again-escaping criminal, whom Peni had let go to giggle, "shouldn't we be focusing on putting these goons in the can?" he pulls him towards the pile of robbers, forming a steady cocoon.

"What, can't multitask, boomer?" Gwen riffs. Her reception is broken up by the sound of rushing wind, as she is evidently back to swinging. Noir grunts in response, not entirely understanding the joke.

"He's actually part of the Greatest Generation." Peter remarks.

"That's a sick name. Can we incorporate _that_ into the themesong?" Miles wonders. He asks someone near him if they would like help with groceries.

"That wouldn't make sense for the rest of us, Miles."

"Okay, Boomer." Gwen responds for Miles, evidently on a roll.

"I'm a _millennial,_ " Peter hisses, "Ham is a millennial, but he's pushing it. You and Miles are both gen Z. Peni, I have absolutely no idea."

"Oh my god. Why do you know this?" Miles' tone as he tunes back in is both somewhat disturbed and fairly awed.

"Don't ask him _that,_ Spider-Boy. It must be the thing he's sensitive about." Ham says it as if the thought is scandalous, wrapping up the last of the bad guys. The three at the scene- one of which (Noir. It's Noir) is a bit lost on the conversation- take a minute to secure their load, before splitting up to find other problems in the city, leaving the police to finish their job.

"Sorry, Peter," Gwen says, a grin in her voice, "you need help with traffic?"

"Bad traffic? In NYC? No, of course not, everything is going swell."

"You're eating icecream, Peter, I can see you." Gwen is sitting on the wall of a tall office building, ignoring the gasps and photos being taken in the room behind her in favor of the view of Peter, full Spider-Man costume, taking in a giant cone of vanilla like a vacuum. His mask is off halfway, but he's managed to get blotches of stray icecream on it.

"What, can't multitask, boomer?" Peter shoots back all-too-smugly.

"Touché." Gwen shakes her head, dropping down to aid Peter in finding another crash to prevent.

"Can we stay on-task?" Miles pleads.

"Talking to your spider friends?" an old man with a heavy Brooklyn accent.

"Uh- yeah-" Miles has never had an easy (or wanted) time explaining the inter-dimensional family he's built up. Luckily, the average person is too thankful for their help to question them on the spot.

"Tell them that if they hurt you or treat you like anything less than New York's own Spider-Man, I'll sock them." the man decides. 

There's a stunned silence from all sides, save for the constant noise of the city, and the shuffling of the man taking his groceries from Miles' hands. The man thanks him, throws him a dollar, and leaves Miles stuck to the sidewalk like a deer in the headlights.

Noir cackles, a rarity, breaking the silence between the six of them.

"That's a back-boned beau, right there."

"Just another addition to the threats over my life." Peter grumbles, and then lets out an _oomph_ as Gwen punches his arm.

"Ah man, I'm so sorry guys. Can we pretend that didn't happen? That would be cool. Where were we?" Miles awkwardly brushes the encounter off. He's gotten lots of comments like this before, but it's the first time he's received them when the Spider Squad was around.

"Hmm," Peni, ever the empath, is quick to help Miles move on, "maybe we don't need lyrics? Maybe we just need to make a beat that people can chime with!"

"What about... Something like..." Miles clears his throat, then lets out a shy, " _All systems go_ \- uh- _sun hasn't died-_ "

"Radioactive! Not a bad choice." Gwen exclaims. They spot a broken traffic light up ahead, and approach to navigate traffic while waiting for an officer.

"That's actually a song in your universe? I was just spit-balling!" Miles sputters. Then again, Ham sounds suspiciously like the singer, John Mulaney, and Noir sounds vaguely like the cook-show-competition host, Nick Cage.

"If we absolutely must have a recording to represent us, I'd be partial to jazz." Noir suggests just as Miles dwells on the similarities between Cage's on-show persona and Noir's general demeanor.

"We agreed, no slow boring stuff." Peni groans.

"You agreed, maybe!" Peter says indignantly. He's opted to hang back and watch for collisions; while Gwen had gotten some lectures, and had seen her dad at work, Peter had never interacted with cops for longer than necessary. His familiarity with procedures like this is basic at best. There are some snorts from the Spider-Children, but none of them want to argue with the veteran. Miles remembers something, 

"Oh, there was this song I made up on my way to the collider-"

"Why were you writing songs on your way to the collider?" It doesn't really surprise Peter, but having his attention divided like that doesn't strike him as safe.

"It helps me think! Plus, it makes me feel... Cool." Miles defends himself. Whenever he hears exciting music now, he can't help but imagine himself flying through the sky- even when he's stuck to a chair in school.

"Hey, dude, it's chill. I get it. Lay it down." Gwen assures.

"Spider-Nerd." Peter scoffs. 

"Okay so it's like," Miles hesitates, "I mean, I don't have all the lyrics down, but it started off- _two-thousand on thermometers, two-thousand surroundin' us, travel two-thousand kilometers-_ "

"What's with two-thousand? Thirteen is a scarier number, don't ya think?" Ham cuts in. There's a _bonk_ through his mic, and a loud yelp.

"Thirteen. The unlucky number. The bad omen." Noir agrees wisely.

"Not what I meant." Ham says. There's swearing from another person in the background, then that oddly specific noise their webs make.

"Whatever! I don't know why it's two-thousand, okay?" Miles huffs, is apologized to, and continues, "Anyways, so the first chorus is like; _if I'm crazy, I'm on my own, if I'm waitin', it's on my throne, if I sound lazy, just ignore my tone, 'cause I'm always gonna answer when you call my phone_ \- and then there's a drop- _like, what's up, danger?_ "

Various reactions, whistles, clapping, thoughtful hums, all come from the Spiders.

"I don't understand it, but I will." Noir promises. 

"Miles! That's really cool!" Peni squeals.

"Not bad, kid gorgeous." Ham squeals.

"Was that a Simpsons reference?"

"I'm supposed to be the music Spider here, c'mon Miles, you're embarrassing me." Gwen says sarcastically, fondness still clear in her voice. 

"Eyes on the road!" Peter barks. Gwen mumbles something about Peter keeping his mouth shut because he's not helping anyways.

"Thanks, guys." Miles responds to the praise sheepishly.

"No problem."

After pulling yet another cat from a tree, Miles takes to the roofs again, leaping between ledges until he spots one of the others. Even with bad guys, and the chaos of six Spiders bantering, there's nothing quite like a team-up in- and above- the neighborhoods of Brooklyn. 

Peni waves up at him from inside the mech, grinning, so he drops down.

"I had that recorded, by the way." she says, her communicator temporarily turned off to avoid echoing.

"Aw no, you can't use that." Miles rubs the back of his neck, not entirely a stage-presence willing to sing his heart to the world.

"Don't worry, that one was just for the memories. You can perform a better-quality one when we have everything written down and you all come to my world. With my tech, you won't even need your old-timey studios!" she plans out, vibrating with anticipation at their not-villain-crushing teamwork.

"If this is old-timey, my world's tech must be archaic." Noir lands a few feet away from them, walking forward as he dusts off his coat. The contours of black and white bounce with every movement.

"It is!" Peni answers mercilessly, the same innocent smile still on her face. Miles chokes, but Noir just takes off his fedora and crushes it onto the skull of the mech.

"You little weasel." he chuckles.

"Compared to the baddie I just wound up? She's an angel," Ham joins them, "the nerve of some people."

"So I take it we're ready to sit down and finalize?" Miles observes, seeing Peter on his way, leaving only Gwen still on patrol.

"Yep. Gwenrigo's just handing her report to the police." he replies. He's a little out of breath, having traveled from another part of the city entirely, but he's been getting more in shape (especially with the extra patrols in Miles' universe).

"Cool. She'll want final say in what we decide to do, since she's the only one with real instrumental experience." Miles says, and elects to ignore Noir's raised hand because no, neither the violin nor saxophone will work for what they're doing.

"I say we do a mix of all our ideas. Make it fair." Peter suggests. Ham snorts.

"Yeah, really go all in!" he jazz handses, "And we could put a _dip_ in the middle to give people a break from the absolute _cacophony_ of _hell_ that would be."

Miles and Peni agree wholeheartedly that mixing all their preferred genres probably wouldn't work.

"I hate that in music. Makes me think the song's over before it is." Noir mutters, pulling his fedora down over the lenses of his eyes, which flash with the regret of years-passed experiences. Miles constantly wonders _what is up_ with that guy.

"You talking about the song without me?" Gwen is the last Spider, swinging down with an accusation in-tow. 

"We were just ready to head to my place and finish up." Peni explains. 

"Sick," Gwen nods coolly, "do I need to bring my drum-kit?"

"No, I'll have everything we need." Peni replies, the idea of a physical set of drums almost insulting. Gwen regards her with suspicion, their views on music boards as differing as possible, but doesn't argue.

"Let's breeze then, canaries." Noir says, letting Ham climb up to his shoulders and awaiting Peni's activation of the portal.

Peni glances around at the public, shuffling a little further into the shadows to activate the device without an uproar. A portal opens up, framed by multi-colored dots, like science-book atoms blown to a larger size, impossible to focus on, yet very clearly there. Inside them is an inky nothingness, that flashes with spiderwebs as Peni draws closer. The Spiders walk up to it with ease, using no rush after an simple day of street-cleaning. There's a cough.

They turn to see Miles, who hadn't moved, and is still standing under the sunlight with his mask on.

"I, uh-" he shuffles his feet, "I'd love to do this right now, but my mom would get super mad if I didn't come home for dinner."

Gwen and Peter chuckle, Noir looks wistful in that brooding way he always does, and Peni, as well as Ham, roll their eyes fondly.

"Wouldn't want to disappoint mama Morales." Gwen crosses her arms in amusement.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, kiddo. We'll meet up tomorrow." Peter waves him off. They've all dealt with concerned parents wondering why the hell their kids were suddenly out and about all day long.

"Awesome." Miles relaxes, "I'll catch you later!"

"Yes, we will be caught as planned." Noir agrees.

"I'll set us to our own universes then." Peni plays around with the device, and the portal expands to reveal the vague outline of a city. She waves the team over so that they, one by one, walk through.

Peni is the last one left, staying behind to make sure everyone gets back smoothly.

"Miles," she pauses right before her exit, "I know you and Gwen are really excited about this- and I am too! Obviously! But for obvious reasons, we won't be able to share the finished product. Or we shouldn't, at least."

Miles steps into the alley and lifts his mask, smiling. He holds out his fist.

"I know. We're making this for ourselves. It's gonna be our thing. For the Spider-Gang."

She lifts the screen of her mech, returning the smile and leaning out. She fist-bumps him.

"For the Spider-Gang."

And she jumps through the portal.

**Author's Note:**

> So no actual themesong, and it was mostly dialogue, but ah well! Hope you enjoyed.
> 
> Critique (especially pertaining to pacing or characterization) is always welcome!


End file.
